A native Californian who has lived in New England and the Pacific Northwest, Joy loves to travel and has hauled romance novels around the globe as good company. She believes that nearly anything can be cured with a good romance novel and a cup of tea. And maybe some cookies and yoga too.
Joy has a B.A. in Political Science with honors from Smith College. She left her former career in the software industry to pursue her romance writing dreams. She lives with her husband and two adorable children in the San Francisco Bay area.
When not writing and doing mom stuff, Joy indulges in her other favorite job — acting as family historian. She can be found hunting for clues to her family and friends’ genealogy. She is busy trying to cheek swab family members for their DNA to overcome research hurdles and solve family mysteries.
Her debut novel, Hot Raider is the winner of the 2020 Contemporary Romance Writer's Stiletto Award and the 1st Place winner of the 2020 TARA Contest in the Contemporary category. Hot Raider was also a finalist in the contemporary category for RWA® ’s 2019 Golden Heart®, won Second Place for Contemporary Romance in Chesapeake Romance Writer's Rudy Contest, received Third Place in the contemporary category in the 2019 WisRWA Fabulous Five Contest, and was a finalist in the 2020 PNWA Writer's contest.
Q & A with Joy
Why do you write about romance?
I have had a secret love affair with romance novels my entire life, always enjoying the chance to escape into a world of happily ever afters. But when my son was born weighing a little over a pound, my world changed. He fought for his life in the ICU for six months before coming home. When he came home, he was on oxygen and a feeding tube and we ran a mini-hospital of sorts out of our home. Our life was full of worry and fear for our child. I decided if I ever crawled out of that, I would bust out of the closet as an aspiring romance novelist. And now here I am. My little guy is doing better now and I’m out of the romance writing closet. I understand now more than ever how precious the opportunity is to believe in happily ever afters, even when just for an hour or so waiting bedside at a hospital watching over a loved one.
How do you pronounce your last name?
Adare. You can say it like a-dare, I dare you to…. Or, in Ireland it is more like uh-daaaar, sounds like darling. Adare Manor is a 19th century manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, now a luxury resort hotel – the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.
Are your books a series?
Nope. They share characters, settings, and themes, but what unites them is that the fabric of each novel creates a close-knit community. In Hot Raider, the hero is Hungarian Immigrant turned corporate raider — Stefano Marek. In Reckless Passion, the heroine is his sister, single mother and corporate raider herself — Daniella Marek.
I hope to write my third book about secondary characters introduced in Hot Raider, namely Emma Warwick’s brother Andrew Warwick and Emma’s best friend — Sophie.
How did you write your first book?
Even with my son graduating from special needs school and gradually dropping the need for different intervention specialists, there wasn’t much time for writing. My husband (a software engineer) saved the day when he sent me a link to an extraordinary story about how Jerry Seinfeld became a good comedic writer. Jerry Seinfeld. Really! I did what Jerry said to do with his tried and true method – “Don’t break the Chain.” I wrote my book in 30 minutes a day and without breaking the chain.
What is your writing process?
Remember that guy I talked about who gave me the “Don’t break the chain strategy” from Seinfeld? The romantic man who I honeymooned with in Mauritius? My best friend who totally supports my romance writing dreams? Well, he is not my critique partner. If he were my critique partner, our marriage would not work. When I have asked him for feedback about a scene, it goes something like this:
Me: “What do you think of the sexual tension between the hero and heroine? Do you think it is happening too early?”
Him: “Hmmm… Have you ever thought about having a villain enter the plot here? He or she could be an evil spy who plants Uranium under the heroine’s tea plantation fields?”
Me: “What are you talking about? Please stay focused. I’m talking about my ROMANCE novel here and the rising romantic tension in my scene.”
Him: “Right. Okay. But wouldn’t it be interesting if the hero was a secret agent of some sort? Maybe from the Mossad?”
Me: “Get out of my office. Please.”
So, since my husband is not a romance novel genre fan and seems only interested in Cold War era spy novels, I rely on my critique group and a troupe of fabulous friends and family who help give me feedback on my novels.
